The Pearl Revisited
by virtual-toast
Summary: A novelisation of CotBP with one of my characters added. It's been done before but I'm writing it differently so it will take a different course to similar fics, and I've written a lengthy backstory for my character. So please read, review and enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean or anything affiliated. I do own this story and my characters, Emily Sharpe, Jonathan Bridges, Captain Nathaniel Clewes and Captain Harvey.**

_The Blue Rose_ had been sailing for two weeks, on its way from Port Jackson to Port Royale. Docking was originally scheduled for the day before, but a thick fog had rolled in, limiting vision to only a few metres in front of the ship, so Captain Nathaniel Clewes had slowed their speed dramatically, and they were now drifting, waiting patiently for the fog to pass. Emily Sharpe, however, was bored.

Emily was tall for a girl, with shoulder-length, wavy brown hair and hazel eyes. She usually pinned the top half of her hair back, and the rest hung down the back of her neck, framing her sparkling eyes perfectly.

Her best friend on the ship was Jonathan Bridges. He was slightly taller than the average man, of average build, had dark green eyes and near chin-length, brown-blonde hair. Emily had met Jonathan in Port Jackson four months earlier – just three days after her parents had been killed by intruding bandits seeking a few easy dollars. She had had, in her possession, her parents' house and the little money they had left, but greedy men from the town had taken it from her, and as she was barely fourteen years old, she was not about to stand up to them. From then on, she was forced to live under a blanket in the tiny, grungy alleyway behind the Scaled Mermaid tavern, where she worked as a barmaid. Fortunately, one night, Jonathan had visited the tavern while his Captain and crewmates were docked in town for six months to visit their families, and Emily got to talking with him. He asked about her, and she told him of all the misfortune that had befallen her. Jonathan felt for Emily, and decided to help her by giving her money and allowing her to live in his quarters. Emily was extremely grateful, and Jonathan enjoyed the company, as he had no family of his own.

When the time came for Jonathan's crew to depart for Port Royale, he pleaded with his Captain to allow Emily to come on the voyage so he could continue to care for her. Since taking her in, Jonathan had grown quite fond of Emily, and if one didn't know their family history, they would have thought the two were siblings. Not being much of a superstitious man, Captain Clewes had agreed to have Emily on the ship, and very soon the entire crew had accepted Emily as their sister.

'Honestly, how can you men stand it?' Emily complained to Jonathan. It was sunset, although it was hard to tell, thanks to the fog. Emily and Jonathan, having finished all of their duties, sat with their legs dangling through the barriers and over the side of the ship, Emily with her skirts pulled up to her knees.

'What?' Jonathan inquired.

'The length of all these journeys, and the boredom that accompanies it!'

'Oh.' He stared out to sea for a moment before continuing. 'You get used to the long voyages eventually, Em. I've been on the sea for six years myself, and you've been 'ere for two weeks. It'll pass, in time.' He smiled his quirky sideways smile that Emily loved, and she giggled, then sighed.

'I suppose so.' Emily stared out at where the sunset should have been, if not for the fog. 'When d'you think it'll pass?' She nodded forwards.

'Nobody knows for sure, but we're hopin' it'll be pretty soon.'

They sat in silence for a while, exhausted from the day's chores. Suddenly, a huge, light-brown ship loomed out of the fog.

'Wow!' Emily gasped. 'Look!' she nudged Jonathan, who had been studying his filthy fingernails and missed the appearance of the ship. 'It's beautiful.'

'Woah,' he whispered, and stood up with Emily to lean on the railing for a closer look. A few men from the crew were shouting to get others' attentions or working to help correct the ship's course to avoid a collision, but most were standing stock-still and gaping at the sudden arrival of the elegant ship.

'John… there's nobody on it. It's deserted,' Emily realised. 'Where did they go?'

'I don't know…'

'Where did that come from?' Captain Clewes stepped up next to Jonathan.

'Not sure, sir… She just appeared outta the fog.'

Emily peered even closer at the front of the ship. 'She's named _Le Mystique_, Captain,' she reported.

'_Le Mystique_, eh? Well, _I've_ never heard of her… can't be too important, then,' Clewes scoffed and clopped off.

'But, Captain,' Emily jumped in, jogging after him, 'there's nobody on it. Wouldn't it be worth it to investigate? What if there's valuables?'

Clewes span around to face Emily, and sneered slightly as he said, 'Well, if there were, Miss Sharpe, it wouldn't have been deserted in the first place, now, would it?' He then turned on his heel and proceeded back to his cabin.

'But-' Emily began in protest.

'Emily…' Jonathan warned as he grabbed her elbow to stop her and raised his eyebrows, suggesting that she should not second-guess the Captain's decision a minute longer. Still, Emily was curious about the elusive ship, and as she watched it drift back into the fog, she knew her thoughts would not be able to help but dwell on it for the rest of the night.

* * *

Eventually, Emily's curiosity got the better of her. At about four-thirty in the morning, when the entire crew were asleep (even the lookout in the Crow's Nest was napping on the job), Emily snuck out of her bunk, silently pushed her shoes onto her feet and slipped carefully past the motionless crew. As she passed Jonathan's bunk next to the door, she contemplated waking him, but eventually thought the better of it – as much as she loved him, she knew he would only prevent her from embarking on her search. Anyway, she'd be back before anyone woke up…

Emily crept up onto the main deck, hoisted herself into one of the ship's rowboats and began to lower it down towards the surface of the water.

'I'll prove to the Captain that a search _is_ worthwhile…' she thought to herself as the boat touched the water and she began to row.

* * *

It took Emily nearly twenty minutes of non-stop rowing to reach the ship. She pulled the small boat up close to the side of the ship and climbed, somewhat clumsily, up the rigging draped securely over its side.

When she reached the main deck, she dusted off her skirts and stared around. Just as she thought – not a soul in sight. She couldn't even see _The Blue Rose_ anymore. Fortunately, both ships had dropped anchor, _Le Mystique_ some time ago, it appeared. This would allow her to know the bearing on which to travel back when her search was over.

Emily had been wandering quietly around the deck for a few moments without realising it. 'Now, _Le Mystique_, let's see what you've got for me…' Emily said to nobody as she strolled over to peer up onto the higher deck. Suddenly, something darted past behind her.

Or did it?

Emily snapped her head around, but there was nothing there. Unshaken, she kept moving towards a sheet that was hanging awkwardly over the gap under the stairs to the higher deck. She reached out to push it aside, but someone beat her to it.

'BOO!'

Emily screamed. From behind the sheet spilled at least a dozen large pirates, each of them a minimum of six feet tall and all brandishing an assortment of weapons ranging from pistols to cutlasses to what looked scarily like steak knives.

''Ello there, little poppet!' a massive, grubby, bald pirate at the front called to her, waving a heavy-looking cutlass.

Emily, not wanting to get any closer, turned around to sprint back to her rowboat. Unfortunately, she found that this way, too, was blocked by a wall of yet another fifteen or so pirates. Emily backed off in fear, but felt her arms being seized from behind. She struggled to pull free, but it was no use – the hands were so huge they wrapped her arms easily. The pirates closed in to form a tight circle around her, and then the ones directly in front of her stepped apart to let another through, whom Emily correctly assumed to be their Captain. The pirates, who had been yelling and jeering, immediately fell silent as the Captain spoke.

'Well, well, well, who do we have 'ere, men? Why, it be a little girl!'

'I-I'm not… I'm n-not little,' Emily stuttered.

'What was that?' the man snarled.

'I said… I-I'm not little!'

'Ye'd do best ter be careful how ye speak ter me, there, Missy. What be yer name?'

Emily hesitated.

'Well?' the Captain prompted impatiently, making sure to catch a ray of moonlight off his cutlass.

'E-Emily… Emily Sh-Sharpe.'

'Well, Miss Sharpe, I be Captain Harvey, an' this be me crew. We've been expectin' ye.' The crew chuckled menacingly.

'Wh-what?' Emily's eyes went wide and she attempted to shrink back, but the strong arms from behind were holding her firmly on the spot.

'Y'see, we saw ye on that ship o' yours early this mornin', an' we knew that we had ter get ye ter come fer a visit.' The crew chuckled again.

'But we didn't see this ship until this afternoon-'

'We have ways of not bein' seen, Missy. We allowed ye ter glimpse our 'deserted' ship this afternoon ter entice ye ter come over. We knew ye'd come eventually.'

'What… what do you want?' Emily was afraid of the answer.

'Just some… pleasurable company. It gets very lonesome on this 'ere ship sometimes.' Harvey grinned a horrible grin at his crew and they laughed. This made Emily feel sick to the stomach, but she still managed a little bit of courage.

'_You'd_ do best to let me go now! My Captain and his crew shall find out that I am missing and they won't hesitate to come over here and blow you out of the water!'

At this, the crew laughed louder, and Harvey smiled. 'Oh, but y'see, Miss Sharpe… I'm countin' on it.' The men laughed even louder, and Emily only barely heard Harvey shout, 'Throw 'er in the brig!' before she was dragged downstairs.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Well, here's the second chapter! I know Jack's quite OOC in this part, but I did it on purpose, because between this part and the next there's about eight years, during which Jack is mutinied upon, and he changes dramatically as a person. So, enjoy, and please review, they make me happy!

**Star xoxo**

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean or anything affiliated. I do own this story and my characters, Emily Sharpe, Jonathan Bridges, Captain Nathaniel Clewes and Captain Harvey.**

Emily had been sitting in the damp, cold cell for goodness knows how long, listening to the crew moving around, talking and laughing up above, when she heard a shout and she was quickly brought back up to the main deck. When she arrived, she found that it was just past sunrise, and that most of the fog had lifted. She also discovered that _The Blue Rose_ had apparently just turned up.

A tall, heavy-set pirate with long, dark-brown dreadlocks pulled her along the deck, stopping her at a set of barrels and promptly binding her wrists with a length of rope. Emily was distracted, however.

'EMILY!'

She whipped around towards the source of the distressed shout and found that, in amongst the crew running around and completing orders given by Captain Clewes, Jonathan was hanging off _The Blue Rose_'s rigging, looking worried enough to jump the gap between the two ships and rescue Emily himself.

'John!' Emily screamed back as the pirate who had bound her hands fastened the other end of the rope to the mast. 'John, I'm sorry!'

'Don't worry, we'll get you outta there! Hold on!'

'HARVEY!' Clewes raised his voice, and both crews fell silent. 'Harvey, you have stolen from us a crewmember, and I demand you deliver her back this instant!'

'Tha's not a very nice way ter greet an ol' acquaintance, Clewes!' Harvey shouted back, clearly enjoying his current position of power. 'An' it be _Captain_ Harvey ter the likes o' you.'

'Are you daft? We were never an acquaintance,' Clewes retorted. 'Hand her over immediately or we shall open fire upon your vessel!'

'D'ye really think that wise, ol' man? Remember, young Miss Sharpe 'ere would be on the ship yer firin' on!'

There was a silence from _The Blue Rose_, then –

'Please, leave her be! She's not even fifteen!' came Jonathan's voice.

'Aww, look – young love!' Harvey spread his arms wide, as if he wanted to embrace everyone present, and looked around, smiling. His crew were almost rolling on the deck with laughter.

'That's hardly a matter of humour, Harvey!' Clewes snarled. 'Grapples! Ready yourselves!'

Harvey sighed. 'Have it yer way, then. Cannons, OPEN FIRE!'

BANG.

Emily had seen cannon fire before, but never this great. _The Blue Rose_ was blown to pieces in a matter of seconds, as was every living soul on board.

'NOOO!' Emily screamed, silent tears soaking her face as she strained on the rope holding her to the mast and stared at the remains of the ship.

Harvey appeared behind her and clapped a hand onto her shoulder. 'He's had it comin' fer near seven years, Missy. He was always too cocky fer 'is own good.' He chuckled, obviously regarding what had just happened as a joke. Emily, however, ignored him, and was still straining to catch a glimpse of Jonathan.

Noticing this, Harvey added, 'He's gone, girl. He's gone! Stop lookin', he's not comin' back!' He removed the rope from the mast, and Emily pulled as hard as she could towards the remains of _The Blue Rose_. 'Russett, take 'er back down ter the brig,' Harvey commanded, and the same pirate as before obediently took the rope from him and dragged Emily towards the stairs. Emily, still pulling as hard as she could but finally deciding it was no use, suddenly found her face being drenched with tears again and allowed herself to be pushed into the brig, hands still bound. She sat there in the same state for a good few hours before she finally cried herself to sleep.

* * *

It was the early hours of night when Emily was woken by something repeatedly jabbing her in the ribs. While her eyes were clearing, she managed to observe that she was still in her cell in the brig of _Le Mystique_, her wrists were still bound (and were quite sore), and that the something that was poking her in the ribs was actually a _someone_.

Her eyes cleared, and she looked up into the tanned, sweaty face of yet _another_ pirate. He appeared rather… odd. He had innumerable beads and trinkets woven into his hair (one of them seemed to be some sort of bone); his hair itself was long, matted, dark-brown, messy and tangled; over this he wore a red bandanna with a worn-looking tri-cornered hat on top of that. He also wore big brown boots over blue pants, with a white shirt, blue vest and a huge, faded blue Captain's jacket that made him appear bulkier than he actually was. In addition, Emily spotted a pistol, a black, battered compass and a pink-and-white-striped scarf hanging from his belt, and he was brandishing a cutlass. There was also thick, black kohl around his eyes, which were a deep, chocolate-brown.

Emily let out a gasp and pressed her back against the cell's bars. The pirate didn't seem to notice. He simply grunted, 'C'mon,' pulled Emily to her feet by her elbow and led her up on deck.

What Emily saw up there could only be described as utter chaos. Pirates, both from _Le Mystique_ and another, new ship, were running in every direction, fighting and killing each other, and some of the newer ship's crew members were looting expensive-looking things from below deck – obviously what pirates loved to do best. Fortunately (or, possibly, unfortunately) for Emily, the crew of _Le Mystique_ seemed to be losing.

Badly.

The pirate pulled her, still clutching her elbow, toward a gangplank that bridged the gap between the two ships. They were about to cross when something grabbed Emily's foot, and didn't seem to want to let go. Emily let out a shriek and spun around, causing the pirate pulling her along to turn, too.

Captain Harvey was lying on the deck, fatally wounded, blood everywhere, but not _quite_ dead. His right hand had a firm grip around Emily's ankle.

'Yer not… not goin' anywhere… missy…' he coughed. Emily, with a little help from the pirate, tried to wrench herself free, but Harvey's hand wouldn't give. Eventually, the pirate just rolled his eyes, sighed, pulled out his pistol and pointed it at Harvey.

Emily looked away and scrunched her eyes shut just in time.

BOOM.

The grip on her ankle disappeared and she and the pirate began moving again. Emily didn't dare look back at Harvey, for fear of throwing up.

Once aboard the other ship, the pirate, still with a tight grip on her arm, gave a shout, and almost immediately their crew was back onboard and they were sailing swiftly away from _Le Mystique_, who looked dreadful. Emily couldn't care less about her anymore, however. She was more concerned about the new crew of pirates that were closing in on her. The pirate who removed her from the brig was now standing next to her.

'C'mere,' he muttered. He grabbed Emily's hands and pulled them towards his cutlass, which caused Emily to gasp and attempt, once again, to pull away. As she expected, however, her attempt was futile – but what the pirate said surprised her.

'Relax.' He cut the ropes around her wrists, sheathed his cutlass and stepped away, leaving Emily standing in the middle of the group of pirates, gaping.

'Don't worry, lass, we're not gonna hurt you. The name's Captain Jack Sparrow, and this here's me crew. Welcome to the _Black Pearl_.'

'Why… Why did you… help me?'

'I think you knew Jonathan Bridges?'

Emily almost burst into tears again.

'Oh my God! He didn't… what happened?'

'All in good time… Emily Sharpe, I believe?' Emily nodded. 'Well, Emily, we'll be takin' you to Port Royale. I shall explain things to you once you've settled into your sleeping quarters. Barbossa!'

A man with shoulder-length, wavy brown-grey hair, dark, yet warm, eyes and a green bandanna stepped up. 'Aye, Cap'n?'

'Show the young lass to her sleeping quarters.'

'Aye, sir.'

Sparrow turned to Emily again. 'Once you have settled in, Miss Sharpe, come meet me in me cabin. If you get lost, just ask any o' the men, they'll be, er… glad to help.' Emily could've sworn she heard a few grumbles of disagreement at this. Sparrow then nodded and marched off, barking orders to the crew.

Emily stood, still gaping, for a moment, until the pirate named Barbossa stepped up.

'This way, Miss,' he smiled, and although it was nothing like how Jonathan used to smile, it still made her feel a little safer, a little less scared, as did Sparrow's generosity. This pirate, Barbossa, was looking out for her, showing her the way – how bad could they be?

Emily followed Barbossa below deck and down a corridor. Three doors along, Barbossa stopped and opened it, ushering Emily inside.

It was a lovely room. There was a big, comfy bed in one corner, a chest of drawers next to it, and a bookcase was standing on the opposite wall with a few books scattered on its shelves. Although it wasn't such a large room, Emily loved it. She immediately strode across the floor and sat on the bed.

'Once yer comfy, Miss, the Captain wishes ter see ye in his cabin. I'd tell ye the directions, but I doubt ye'd remember them – things can get a little complicated on this ship. I trust ye'll find yer room is up ter standards, and if ye be needin' anythin', don't hesitate ter ask.' With that, he gave another smile, gently closed the door and left.

Emily sat on the bed for a few minutes, going over everything that had recently happened in her head. It was mind-boggling to think about, so she decided she best go and see the Captain.

She closed the door to her quarters behind her and walked the rest of the corridor, only to find another corridor heading off to the left. She headed down that, observing the many doors and staircases, but soon discovered she found it rather hard to locate the Captain's cabin. She asked the first pirate that came past for directions.

'Uh… excuse me… sir?' She looked up into the face of a huge, bald, dark-skinned man who appeared to have numerous bead-like objects embedded in patterns all over him. Emily shuddered inwardly.

'Aye?' he grunted.

'Where would I find the Cap-'

'Three doors down that corridor,' he pointed, then strode briskly off.

'-tain's cabin,' Emily timidly finished, then went to find the door the man had pointed out.

She knocked, heard a muffled, 'Enter!' and pushed the door open.

'Ah, Miss Sharpe! Come in, close the door, please…' Sparrow seated himself behind a desk, leaned back in his chair placed his feet on the desktop. His coat and hat were hanging on the headboard of a bed that sat in a corner, half concealed by a red velvet curtain. Sparrow picked up two green apples from a bowl on his desk.

'Sit, sit! Apple?' he offered. Emily sat down in the seat opposite him and shook her head. Sparrow shrugged, placed one of the apples back in the bowl and took a large bite out of the remaining one.

They sat in silence, Sparrow munching on his bright green apple. Eventually, Emily motioned to him with her eyes, as if to say, 'Well?'

'AH! Yes, I knew you were here for something…' Sparrow jumped up, threw his apple aside and began pacing behind his desk. He was slightly wobbly when he walked, as though he were perpetually drunk, and Emily wondered at times wether he was going to fall over completely. She also noticed that he seemed to be slurring.

'Now, why we came for you… Tell me about this Jonathan Bridges.'

Emily found this an odd, and somewhat painful, request, but nevertheless, proceeded to tell him all about her life in Port Jackson; how Jonathan had found and cared for her, how Captain Harvey had captured her and how _The Blue Rose_ had been blown to smithereens, along with Jonathan.

'Ah, I see… that would explain the driftwood…' Sparrow muttered to himself, stopping his pacing, index finger on his chin.

'…Sorry?' Emily questioned.

Sparrow looked up. 'Well,' he began pacing again, 'we were _innocently_ drifting near Port Royale, when we noticed an abnormal amount o' driftwood floating past. Then we spotted your friend, Jonathan, clinging to a scrap o' his ship, and also to life itself, it seemed.' Emily cringed at the thought of Jonathan in such a situation.

'So, we hauled him aboard,' Sparrow continued, making large gestures with his arms. 'We tried to ask him where he came from and the like, but he was too badly injured to reply.' He grimaced at the look of horror and sadness on Emily's face, revealing several gold teeth, but continued. 'All we managed to get outta him was his name, your name, the name o' the ship that took you and that you needed help.' Sparrow now had his back to Emily, peering out of a window.

'And… and Jonathan?' He had to be alive. He _had_ to be.

Sparrow's chin hit his chest. '…He… he died in me arms, luv.' Emily let out a loud sob. She suddenly found it incredibly hard to breathe. 'I'm sorry…' he added, turning to look at her.

Emily had now officially lost everything she had held dear for the second time in her life. She burst into tears, and found that, surprisingly, Sparrow's shoulder had appeared for her to cry on. She buried her face in the shoulder of his shirt, and he stayed there, comforting her while she sobbed, unlike any pirate she had ever heard of.

They stayed that way until it was announced that supper was ready. Sparrow got up and offered Emily his arm but, between sobs, she quietly and politely refused, thanked him, retired to her quarters and cried into her sheets until Sparrow returned, about an hour later.

'Miss… sorry to disturb you, but we're about to arrive at Port Royale.' Emily pushed herself up and wiped her face dry, finally stopping crying.

'Thankyou. I'll get myself ready,' she sniffed, and then smiled. He smiled back and shut the door.

Emily slid off the bed, straightened the sheets and stood in front of the mirror on her chest of drawers. She fixed her hair as best she could and tried to rid herself of the redness in her eyes, then took a last look at her quarters and left.

She found Captain Sparrow standing on deck, presumably waiting for her. The other pirates were going about their business as usual. Sparrow helped Emily into a rowboat and then spoke to her.

'Sorry about the rowboat, luv. It's the Navy Captain… hates pirates, you know…' Emily stifled a giggle and nodded her understanding. 'Emily – before Jonathan…' he paused, not wanting to upset her again.

Emily shook it off. 'Yes?'

'He left this for you.' Sparrow presented a large bag of coins.

'Oh, my goodness, it's… it's so much! Captain, I couldn't possibly…'

'No. Take it. It was Jonathan's gift to you.' Emily obediently placed the bag in one of the pockets in her dress, and then made to begin lowering the boat, but Sparrow stopped her.

'Wait… He also wanted me to give you this.' He hesitated. Emily stared at him, curious. Suddenly, out of nowhere, he kissed Emily on the lips.

When Sparrow withdrew, all Emily could think was, 'Wow,' and she couldn't help but smile.

'Th-Thank… Thankyou…' Emily stammered. 'For everything.'

'It was my pleasure, luv. The money should keep you in good stead for a while and you can find yourself a job. Good luck, Miss Sharpe.' Sparrow finally nodded, brushing his thumb against her cheek, and smiled, then helped her lower the boat.

When the boat touched the water, Emily clutched the oars tightly, but before she set off, she looked back up at the _Black Pearl_.

'Goodbye, Captain Sparrow!' she shouted up towards the deck.

Sparrow's head appeared over the side of the ship and, just before Emily began to row to shore in Port Royale, he shouted back, 'Luv – it's Jack!'


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean or anything affiliated. I do own this story and my characters, Emily Sharpe, Jonathan Bridges, Captain Nathaniel Clewes and Captain Harvey.**

If it wasn't for the hustle and bustle of the street outside, one could have heard the clashing of handcrafted swords emanating from the blacksmith's shop in Port Royale. Emily Sharpe and Will Turner were playfully parrying each other, testing the swords they had crafted the day before.

It had been eight years since Jack Sparrow and the crew of the _Black Pearl_ had rescued Emily and dropped her off in the port. When she had arrived, although a little disoriented at first, Emily had bought herself a few apples from a street vendor and found a cosy little nook in a side street to settle in for the night.

The next day, she went looking for a job. As she was only in her mid-teens, many refused her applications, and she was about to give up hope after looking for a month and a half. But finally, she found the blacksmith's shop. Mr Brown, the owner, took her in that very day. It was unusual for a girl to work as a blacksmith, but Emily didn't care – she loved the challenge and was especially thankful that Mr Brown was paying her by giving her lodging in the back of the shop and a few extra coins on the side.

There was a young man already working at the blacksmith's shop when Emily had gotten the job, by the name of William Turner, or Will, for short. Will was handsome and tall, of average build, with longish brown hair and deep, brown eyes that you could get lost in. He was relatively the same age as Emily and had, in fact, only gotten the job a few days earlier, after being rescued from the wreckage of a ship by a navy vessel. He taught Emily everything he already knew, and the rest they learned together. The two were inseparable, just like a loving brother and sister – just like Emily had been with Jonathan. She was happy for this, as it seemed to fill an empty hole in her life, and she was sure it was what Jonathan would have wanted.

Mr Brown, a short, round-faced, smelly man, was rarely doing anything productive towards the business – he simply owned it. At any point in time, he was either in a tavern getting drunk or in the shop, trying to sleep off a nasty hangover. He left Will and Emily to do all of the smithing, and usually took credit for their work, but they didn't mind – they enjoyed the work and each other's company the most, and that was what mattered.

Today, Mr Brown was asleep in a corner of the shop, and nothing was about to wake him. Will and Emily had just got up and dressed, and were now practising their sword fighting skills. Both seemed to have a natural talent and each was as good as the other. Will and Emily both wielded swords that they had crafted themselves, and they were stepping this way and that, dodging, striking and blocking. Suddenly, Will caught Emily off-guard and pushed her backwards, holding his blade near to her throat.

'You'd want to watch your feet more, Em,' he smiled, 'you wouldn't want to-'

Out of nowhere, Emily flung her sword against Will's and suddenly the two were in opposite positions.

'…get off balance?' Emily teased, now edging her blade closer to Will's throat. Then they laughed, lowered their swords and patted each other on the back.

'Better go clean up – got a delivery to make today,' Will smiled, and Emily nodded as they both headed off to their rooms to tidy themselves.

They emerged five minutes later, Will with his best jacket on and hair tied back, Emily having changed to a cleaner, white and blue dress and brushed her hair.

'Ready?' Emily asked.

Will picked up the box containing the Commodore-to-be's sword, replied, 'Yes,' and they left.

The walk to the Governor's household took about ten minutes. They would be delivering to him the sword that was to be presented to Captain Norrington in his promotion ceremony that same day. On the way, Will and Emily spoke about trivial things such as the weather and the grumpy shop vendor down the road, and when they finally arrived at their destination, Emily rang the bell.

A servant answered the door, allowed them inside, then proceeded upstairs to alert the Governor of their presence. Emily studied a painting as she waited, and Will quickly cleaned his shoes on the back of his socks while she wasn't looking. He then inspected one of the elaborate candelabras mounted on the wall next to the door. But when he reached out to touch it –

There was a loud snap and a piece of the candelabra broke off in his hand. Emily spun around and gaped at it, then at Will, and then at the broken piece again. Neither of them had pockets large enough to store it in, so, frantically, they searched the entrance hall for somewhere to hide it. They quickly decided to bury it in a parasol vase, and not a moment too soon, as another servant with a tray crossed the hall. Will cleared his throat and nodded to him and Emily smiled nervously and curtseyed – the servant, however, kept his nose in the air and walked briskly past, leaving Emily and Will praying that he hadn't seen anything. Their trains of thought were immediately interrupted, however, as the servant who answered the door came back down the stairs, following Governor Swann.

'Ah, Mr Turner and Miss Sharpe, good to see you again!' he greeted them both.

'Good day, sir,' Will and Emily greeted him in unison. 'We have your order,' Will added, as he placed the box on a table, opened it and presented the sword to the Governor.

'Well…'

'The blade is folded steel – that's gold filigree laid into the handle,' Emily described as the Governor studied the elegant weapon.

'If I may?' Will held his hand out for the sword. Governor Swann complied, and Will took the sword and balanced it on his fingers, just below the hilt. 'Perfectly balanced. The tang is nearly the full width of the blade.'

Emily inwardly rolled her eyes – _he's going to do the trick_. Sure enough, Will promptly flipped the sword spectacularly into the air, caught it again and graciously presented the hilt to the Governor.

'Oh!' Governor Swann leant back as to avoid the sword in case it went off course. 'Impressive. Very impressive.' He took the sword from Will once again. 'No, no – Commodore Norrington's going to be _very_ pleased with this.' Will and Emily smiled broadly as the Governor handed the sword back to Will, who sheathed it and placed it back in its box. 'Do pass my compliments on to your master, hm?' the Governor added.

Both Emily and Will suddenly felt slightly dejected that their most important customer didn't even know that _they_ had made the sword, but they still smiled back and Emily said, 'We shall. A craftsperson is always pleased to hear their work is appreciated.'

Just as Will closed the lid of the box, they heard footsteps coming down the stairs once more. All three of them looked up to see Elizabeth Swann, the Governor's daughter, entering the room, wearing a beautiful gold and white dress.

Will had known Elizabeth, Governor Swann and Captain Norrington since he first arrived in Port Royale, as they were all on the ship that had rescued him. Since that day, Will and Elizabeth had been the best of friends, and when Emily had arrived she was welcomed into their friendship as well. Emily also knew that Will quite fancied Elizabeth, and that she felt the same in return, even though neither of them would ever admit it, it seemed.

'Oh, Elizabeth, you look absolutely stunning,' Governor Swann commented.

'Will! Emily! It's so good to see you!' Elizabeth hurried down the rest of the stairs to join their group. 'Will, I had a dream about you last night.'

'A-About me?' Will stammered, surprised.

The Governor tried to cut Elizabeth off. 'Elizabeth, is that entirely proper for you to-?'

'About the day we met, do you remember?' Elizabeth continued, ignoring her father.

'How could I forget, Miss Swann?'

'Will, how many times must I ask you to call me Elizabeth?'

'At least once more, Miss Swann. As always.' He smiled at Elizabeth, but a stern look of annoyance was crossing her face. Emily tried to catch her eye and smile, but Elizabeth was no longer in the mood.

'There. See? At least the boy has a sense of propriety. Now, we really must be going – there you are,' Governor Swann finished the conversation, handing a servant Norrington's new sword and Elizabeth a parasol.

Not taking her eyes off Will, Elizabeth said coldly, 'Good day, Mr Turner, Miss Sharpe,' and left through the front door, into an awaiting carriage. Her father followed, as did several servants, on their way to the promotion ceremony.

Will hurried after her, Emily on his heels, and he stopped on the doorstep. 'Good day… Elizabeth,' he smiled after her, but she was long gone.

Will was brought back to his senses when a servant shut the front door behind himself and Emily, and so they both began to walk back to the blacksmith's. Emily could tell Will was annoyed at himself for what he said, and so she tried to differ the subject. She knew Elizabeth – the whole argument would blow over by the next time Will and Elizabeth saw each other.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Hey again! Long time no update... naughty me. Anyway I'm going overseas in a few days so I thought I'd update and give you something to read while I'm gone. I know this part is almost twice the length of a normal chapter, but we don't wanna break up the big Jack vs. Will fight now do we? ;) Plus, it'll keep you entertained through this story's month-long hiatus while I'm in America riding Pirates of the Caribbean over and over So enjoy and leave me a Christmas treat... A REVIEW! :D Thanks guys!

**Star xoxo**

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean or anything affiliated. I do own this story and my characters, Emily Sharpe, Jonathan Bridges, Captain Nathaniel Clewes and Captain Harvey.**

It took Emily and Will quite a while to get back to the blacksmith's shop, because, as well as Will moving slowly on account of his gloomy mood, they stopped to do a little browsing on the way. They bought a loaf of bread to share for breakfast and spent most of the morning discovering unusual things for sale and comparing other blacksmiths' handiwork to their own. They could even hear the music from Norrington's promotion ceremony up at the fort. Will's mood had lightened considerably, until they happened to overhear two women sitting on a corner, engrossed in discussion.

'…Ooh yes, bloody pirate, 'e was. Said 'e came from… Singapore, I fink. First time I ever 'erd o' the place…'

'Yes, and 'e threatened the Guvna's daugh'er, dinee? Ooh, rotten ter the core, them pirates is.'

'An' odd, too, by the looks 'o 'im.'

'You saw 'im?'

'Yeah – weird-lookin', if ye ask me. Beads and everyfink in 'is hair, like. And I dunno what it was, but it looked like 'e had two black eyes… 'Course, I on'y saw 'im from a distance.'

'E'll get what's comin' to 'im, if that Norrington bloke 'as anyfink ter to wif it… That's why they got all them red coats wanderin' around, lookin' fer 'im.'

'Sorry,' Will interrupted. 'Did you just say a… a pirate threatened Governor Swann's daughter?'

'Yes, 'e did. What, you bin eavesdroppin'?' one of the ladies scoffed, then turned her back on him.

Will and Emily kept walking. 'How dare he?' Will fumed. 'If I ever get my hands on him…'

'Relax, Will,' Emily soothed. 'The navy'll sort it out. I'm _positive_ Elizabeth will be fine. Besides, there's not much you can do about it at the moment…' She hugged Will around the shoulders for reassurance, and he sighed, then nodded as they headed back to the blacksmith's.

When they arrived there, however, they were surprised to find the machinery running. Emily sprinted to calm the donkey that ran things and then checked the side of the shop, while Will took a look around as he took off his jacket.

He smiled and sighed as he saw Mr Brown, asleep exactly where he had been when Will and Emily had departed hours earlier. 'Right where I left you,' Will mused. Then he spotted a hammer that was unusually out of place. 'Not where I left you…' he whispered as he threw his jacket aside and unbuttoned his shirt a little.

Then his gaze shifted upwards to another object that was even more out of place. A worn, brown, tri-cornered hat was sitting on the bench, and it definitely didn't belong to either himself, Emily or Mr Brown.

His brow furrowed, Will reached out for it – only to have the blade of a sword slapped down onto his hand. He looked up into the face of a strange-looking pirate, who raised his sword so it pointed directly at Will's face. The pirate advanced towards Will, who backed away, slowly lowering his arm.

'You're the one they're hunting. The _pirate_.'

Hearing Will speak, Emily thought, 'What?' and turned around.

'JACK! Jack, what are you doing here?'

'Emily – you know this man?' Will asked incredulously.

'Yes! Will – this is Jack Sparrow! He's the one who rescued me from Harvey!' Will, however, was still glaring at Jack, and Emily spotted Jack's sword pointed at Will. '…Jack, what are you doing?'

As though Emily has never spoken, Jack asked Will, 'You seem somewhat familiar, have I threatened you before?'

'I make a point of avoiding familiarity with _pirates_,' Will snarled.

'Ah. Well, it'd be a shame to put a black mark on your record, so if you'll excuse me…' Jack turned to leave out the back door, but not before Will had grabbed a sword of his own and turned it on Jack.

'Will!' Emily yelled, shocked.

Jack turned again to face Will. 'You think this wise, boy? Crossing blades with a pirate?'

Will took a step towards Jack and pointed his sword straight in the pirate's face. 'You threatened Miss Swann.'

Jack ran his sword over Will's and grinned. 'Only a little.'

Suddenly, the fight started. Jack began throwing small strikes at Will, backing him towards the front door, when Will took two brave swipes at Jack's midsection, forcing him to jump back. They crossed swords again, and the attacks became more aggressive as Will forced Jack back to where he started, Jack successfully blocking every blow that came at him.

'Stop it!' Emily shrieked as she grabbed a sword of her own from the wall, with the intention of breaking up their battle. Will foolishly took a sideways glance at Emily, and Jack saw his chance. He quickly advanced on Will and threw him off balance, then grabbed a handful of dust from the floor and threw it into Will's eyes, causing him to stumble backwards, trying to wipe it away.

Emily now advanced on Jack, but she wasn't ready for his strength, and he quickly flicked her weapon away from her. She turned to face him again, with something close to fear in her eyes. 'Jack…' she began to plead.

There was a look in Jack's eyes that said, 'I'm sorry,' and he jabbed her in the arm. Blood blossoming from the new wound, Emily gave a yelp and collapsed against a wooden beam, applying pressure to her arm. She gaped up at Jack, shocked that he had done such a thing, and tried to stand up.

Jack sighed and rolled his eyes. 'You were always spirited,' he said, and grabbed a dagger off the wall. With it, he pinned one of Emily's sleeves to the wall, and left her to fight Will once again. No matter how hard she tried, Emily had no luck in removing the dagger or tearing her sleeve off it, so all she could do was sit and watch the fight, all the while keeping pressure on her wound.

Will could now see again, and was waiting for Jack's next move, his sword at the ready. Jack sighed.

'You know what you're doing, I'll give you that. Excellent form,' Jack commented. 'But how's your footwork? If I step here…?' Jack stepped to the right. Will did the same, enabling him to expertly block all of Jack's strikes. 'Very good,' Jack continued. 'And now I step again…' He stepped to the left this time, and Will did most of the attacking, finishing with his sword crossed over Jack's chest, but blocked by Jack's sword. Jack took one final step towards Will, accompanied by a strike, making both of their swords finish by their owner's side. Will realised too late that Jack's back was now to the door.

'Ta,' Jack smiled and turned around. He sheathed his sword and climbed the step to the door, and was about to leave when Will suddenly threw his sword through the air, causing it to become impaled in the wood, just above the lock, blocking Jack's exit.

Jack turned to stare at the reverberating sword, which had just missed his left ear by an inch or two. He steadied it with a hand, and then wiggled, shook and pulled the sword as hard as he could, to no avail. His only exit now behind Will, Jack advanced towards him looking like a thundercloud.

'That is a _wonderful_ trick,' he commented sarcastically, 'except once again, you are between me and my way out, and now,' he unsheathed his sword menacingly, grinning, 'you have no weapon.'

'JACK!' Emily shouted in horror, but she needn't have worried.

Will whipped around, grabbed a sword from the fire and held it in front of Jack's face. Emily gasped, and Jack realised, with his eyes widening and his grin disappearing instantly, that Will's new sword was red-hot.

The donkey, startled, started running and moving the cogs again. Will threw blow after blow at Jack, sending sparks everywhere as their swords collided, while Jack defended himself extremely carefully. Will aimed for Jack's side, but his sword got tangled in some chains around Jacks' wrist, and Jack threw it away. Will dove under a moving spoke as Jack took a swipe at him and Will grabbed two new swords off a rack.

Jack, now on the opposite side of the rack to Will, jumped from side to side to attack. Taking a brief glance up at all of the weapons hanging above his head, Jack asked, 'Who makes all these?'

'We do!' Will replied, referring to himself and Emily, as he and Jack evasively switched places. 'And we practise with them-' he dodged a pot thrown by Jack, '-three hours a day!'

Switching places with Will again, Jack commented, 'You need to find yourself a girl, mate!' guessing from their attitude towards each other that Will and Emily didn't like each other in 'that way'.

Will advanced on him in anger, but Jack expertly locked Will's swords above their heads with his own, and continued, 'Or, perhaps the reason you practise three hours a day is that you've already found one, and are otherwise incapable of wooing said strumpet. …You're not a eunuch, are you?' Jack pulled a disgusted face and looked downwards.

'I practise three hours a day so that when I meet a _pirate_…' Will snarled, looking Jack up and down, 'I can kill it!'

'Ah!' Jack acknowledged as they began to fight again. Emily, stuck to the support and her arm now bleeding profusely and paining her quite a lot, had no idea who she should be barracking for.

Will took another swipe at Jack's midsection and chased him onto a flat, two-wheeled cart. The weight of the two men caused the blocks that were balancing it to come away, and they then had the difficult task of steadying their own balance as well as fighting each other. It was quite awkward, but the two men kept swinging their weapons at each other in any way possible.

Will blocked a high strike from Jack, then managed to thread one of his swords through a link of the chains on Jack's left wrist and impaled it into a beam above their heads. Jack was stuck.

Will stepped back to the edge of the cart to admire his handiwork, and Jack took a few swipes at him, but Will was out of reach. Fortunately for Jack, he found a loose board on the cart and stomped on it. The other end shot up and collided with Will's chin, sending him sprawling backwards onto the floor.

This gave Jack some time to work on getting free. He hoisted his feet up to push against the beam, so he was hanging upside-down, grabbed the sword that held the chain and shook it as hard as he could. Will recovered himself and ran to attack Jack again, but just as he stepped back onto the cart, Jack fell. His weight on the other end had a catapult effect on Will, shooting him up into the rafters.

Jack rolled off his end of the cart, then shook his head, stood up and looked around for Will. Unable to find him, he looked up into the rafters, only to see Will standing up there on a beam, over a suspended net full of heavy parcels. They smiled at each other, but then Jack's disappeared as Will cut the rope holding the net and it fell onto the other end of the cart, propelling Jack up into the rafters as well. He grabbed onto a beam with his arms and dangled there for a moment, let out a puff, then hoisted himself over it to land on another beam that was parallel with the one Will was standing on.

Jack jumped across to Will's beam to continue the fight, but Will did the same. They switched again, then Will feigned jumping, causing Jack to land on his beam by mistake, which wiped another smug grin off Jack's face. They parried, clumsily changing beams once more, until Will managed to knock Jack's sword out of his hand.

Will pointed his sword at Jack, believing victory was his, when Jack flipped backwards out of the rafters and onto the bench. Will reacted quickly and beat him to the floor, but when Will advanced towards him, Jack grabbed a bag filled with dust and poured it into Will's face, then kicked his weapon out of his hand. Will backed away against the bench, hastily wiping the dust out of his face yet again. He groped around for any sort of weapon, and by the time his hand had found a pair of tongs and he had opened his eyes he discovered he was now looking down the barrel of Jack's pistol.

'No! Will!' Emily breathed.

'You cheated!' a very dirty Will accused, still brandishing the tongs.

'Pirate!' Jack reminded him.

He was almost drowned out by the sound of several men pounding on the front door of the shop. Jack looked towards the door, and Will tried to move out of the firing line of his pistol, but Jack looked back and followed him.

'Move away,' Jack demanded.

'No!'

'_Please_ move?'

'NO! I cannot just step aside and let you escape.'

Jack cocked the pistol. 'This shot is _not_ meant for you,' he said through gritted teeth.

Will suddenly assumed a curious look, and a bottle smashed on the back of Jack's head. Emily gaped as Jack collapsed onto the floor and revealed short little Mr Brown standing behind him, the neck of the smashed bottle in one hand.

The men finally broke through the front door, and the new Commodore Norrington, wearing a shiny medal around his neck, burst in, surrounded by nearly ten red coats. They all pointed their weapons down at the unconscious Jack as the donkey abruptly stopped running.

Norrington looked down Jack. 'Excellent work, Mr Brown,' he commended. 'You have assisted in the capture of a dangerous fugitive.'

'Just doing my civic duty, sir,' Mr Brown gurgled.

Emily, shocked at the fact that Norrington seemed incapable of seeing past the end of his own nose, gaped now at Will, who merely shrugged, causing large portions of dust to fall out of his hair, with a look on his face that said, 'Oh well.'

'Well, I trust that you will always remember this as the day that Captain Jack Sparrow _almost_ escaped. Take him away.' On Norrington's order, several soldiers seized Jack's arms and dragged him out of the shop, Mr Brown returned to where he was sleeping, and Norrington moved over to examine Emily's injury.

Will pulled the dagger out of the wood, freeing her arm, and Emily thanked him, as Norrington squatted beside her.

'I assume Sparrow did this?' Norrington asked, and Emily nodded. Norrington gave a sigh, stood up, said, 'I advise you tend to her wound immediately, Mr Turner,' and left, along with the rest of his men.

'Are you alright?' Will asked concernedly, helping Emily to her feet.

'Yeah – are you?'

Will nodded and hugged her, being careful as to not touch her wounded arm. 'Let's get you cleaned up.'

Will sat her down on the bench, tore a strip of material from his sleeve and tied it tightly around Emily's wound to stop the bleeding. The only thing that broke the silence was Mr Brown, who was now snoring contentedly from the back corner of the shop.

As Will, still coated head to foot in dust, got up to get a damp cloth to clean away the blood, he said, 'So… that was the man who rescued you?'

'Yes… he certainly has changed a lot…' Emily replied, almost sadly. 'I'm sorry, I… I never expected him to behave like that. Not after how kind he was to me.'

'Em, it's not your fault,' Will said soothingly as he walked back over to Emily and cleaned her arm. 'That's what piracy does to people – turns them against the ones they love. Anyway, it's been eight years since you saw him last, you can hardly expect him to have stayed the same…'

'Yeah, I guess so…' Emily sighed. 'You did wonderfully, though – you beat him!'

'But he cheated.' Anger was crossing Will's face – he never could stand pirates.

Emily changed the subject. 'Well… let's get to work,' she shrugged and hopped off the bench.

'Are you sure you can?'

'Yeah, I'll be fine. You should, uh… go wash up first, though.' They both laughed, and Emily got to work as Will went to clean up.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** ARGH, I'm so bad, I haven't updated in like nine months! _-Slaps self-_ I'm really sorry guys, I'm in my final year of high school and things are really crazy. I feel so bad that I'm putting up another update right now, and if I don't get sidetracked another part should be up soon. I hope you like this installment, and please leave me a REVIEW! :D Thanks!

**Star xoxo**

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean or anything affiliated. I do own this story and my characters, Emily Sharpe, Jonathan Bridges, Captain Nathaniel Clewes and Captain Harvey.**

Several hours later, with Jack Sparrow safely in jail and awaiting the gallows, Emily and Will sat in the blacksmith's shop, chatting merrily while they worked. As much hatred she now felt towards him, Emily was upset about the decision to have Jack hanged, but Will had managed to convince her that there was nothing she could do about it.

Will was hammering a strip of metal into shape and Emily was sewing up the hole in her dress (having changed into a less formal, brown and white one), when Will stopped mid-hammer. He looked up at the window.

'Did you feel that?'

'Yeah.' A shiver ran up Emily's spine as she put down her sewing.

Will moved towards the window and opened the shutter, and the two of them looked up and down the street. There was nothing there except a black cat, which ran for shelter behind some barrels. Still, neither of them could shake the feeling that something bad was in the air.

Will closed the shutter again and picked up his hammer as Emily sat back down. They didn't say anything to each other, both lost in thought.

Suddenly, a huge explosion erupted outside, followed by another, and another. Emily screamed and crouched close to the floor, covering her head. 'What's going on?'

'I don't know – invaders, probably. We have to help! Come on!' Will helped Emily up, grabbed a hatchet and shoved a sword in the sheath that hung at his hip; Emily grabbed her own sword, strapped its sheath around her waist and ran out the door behind Will.

The scene outside was utter chaos. A lady in a white nightgown and nightcap ran past them screaming, chased by a stubby, ugly pirate whose beard appeared to be burning. Will chased after him, Emily blocking an attack from a pirate coming at Will from behind and shoving him off.

Will threw one of his hatchets into the stubby pirate's back. The pirate gave a yell, then collapsed onto his stomach, and Will retrieved his hatchet from the pirate's back as he ran past.

Emily and Will soon became separated – Will got entangled in a fight with a huge, six-foot-plus pirate brandishing a grapple, while Emily ran into a side street to help a man who was being attacked by a pirate wearing a pilfered gold necklace.

The pirate never saw Emily coming, and she ran him through from behind. As he gave a groan and fell to the ground, the little man thanked her. Emily was about to tell him to run and hide when the man stopped mid-phrase. Blood began to trickle from his mouth and, as he, too, collapsed to the ground, dead, the unlucky man's assassin leapt at her.

Emily parried the new pirate's attacks to the best of her ability, and was pleased when she saw the look of surprise on his face. Using this to her advantage, Emily shoved him with all her might onto the main street and into the path of a speeding cart, where he was hit full-pelt with a sickening crunch. Emily immediately started back towards the heart of the battle when something grabbed her right arm from behind. She spun around, only to come face-to-face with the same pirate she had previously run through. Emily was too shocked to try and break his grasp – hadn't she just watched this man die with her own two eyes?

The last thing Emily heard was, 'Yer lucky yer a woman, lass,' before the hilt of a sword hit her sharply on her right temple and she blacked out before she hit the ground.

* * *

'…Em. Em! _Emily_! Oh, God… Emily, _please_ wake up…'

Fog. Why was there fog?

'Emily! Look at me.'

…More importantly, why was the fog talking?

'Emily!'

'…Wh…What?' Emily blinked and the fog cleared to reveal Will kneeling over her. 'Will! Wi- ugh…' Her head was throbbing as though it were about to explode.

'Em, be careful, your head…'

'What happened?'

'Looks like you got hit hard…'

'No, not me, the pirates!'

Emily's vision still wasn't brilliant, but she could make out the look of mixed grief and anger on Will's face. 'They're gone. Em… They took her.'

Emily didn't need to ask; she could read Will's face like a book. 'No!'

'Are you alright?' Will helped her sit up.

'Yes, I'm fine.'

That seemed to be the response Will had been waiting for. He jumped up, helping Emily to stand also, and said, 'Quickly, this way,' then grabbed her hand and sprinted off.

Within seconds they arrived at the temporary headquarters of Commodore Norrington's office. The scene around the town was horrific; women and children were clearing away debris, men and soldiers alike were carrying the dead and badly injured to safer areas. Norrington himself was poring over a map of the known waters near Port Royale, and Governor Swann seemed so grief-stricken that he was incapable of any action whatsoever. Will marched up the stairs, hatchet still in hand and Emily in tow, to stop in front of Norrington.

'They've taken her. They've taken Elizabeth!'

Norrington didn't even look up. 'Mr Murtogg, remove these two.'

A guard promptly moved forward and attempted to grab Emily's and Will's arms, but Will shrugged him off. 'We have to hunt them down – we must save her!'

'And where do you propose we start?' Governor Swann, clearly distraught, burst out. 'If you have any information concerning my daughter, please, share it!'

'That… Jack Sparrow. He talked about the _Black Pearl_,' piped up the guard named Murtogg.

'Mentioned it, is more what he did,' frowned his comrade.

'Ask him where it is!' Emily stated incredulously to Norrington, almost leaning across the table. 'Make a deal with him – he could lead us to it!'

Norrington sighed as though this was the stupidest idea he'd ever heard. 'No... The pirates who invaded this fort left Sparrow locked in his cell, ergo, they are _not_ his allies.' He turned to Governor Swann. 'Governor, we will establish their most likely course-'

WHAM. Will buried his hatchet in the middle of Norrington's table and shouted, 'That's not good enough!'

Norrington sighed again, removed Will's hatchet from the table and strode over to him. 'Mr Turner, you are not a military man, you are not a sailor – you are a _blacksmith_…' Placing heavy emphasis on the last word, Norrington firmly took Will's arm and led him away from the group. Emily attempted to follow, but Murtogg stopped her with the blade on his rifle. She could no longer hear what Norrington was saying to Will, and a few seconds later Norrington shoved Will's hatchet back into his hand and returned to his map.

Emily, pushing Murtogg's rifle away from her gut, ran after Will, who was already storming away with the air of a man about to do something drastic. 'Will? Will, what did he say? Where are you going?'

'I'm going to talk to Sparrow.'

'Will, no! You know he won't help us; he's a liar and a cheat! And besides, if we get caught, we'll hang!'

Will stopped and turned to Emily. 'That's why we're not going to get caught.'


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Here I am again, another seven-or-so months later. I'm so sorry; it's down to nothing but my laziness and forgetfulness. If anybody's still reading this, thank you, I hope you enjoy it and please let me know what you think!

-Star xoxox

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean or anything affiliated. I do own this story and my characters, Emily Sharpe, Jonathan Bridges, Captain Nathaniel Clewes and Captain Harvey.**

Two minutes later, Emily had reluctantly followed Will down to the jail to find Sparrow lying lazily in his cell. There was an enormous hole in the wall, presumably from the pirate attack the night before, but, fortunately, it wasn't big enough for Sparrow to fit through. Will was doing the talking; Emily would have none of it.

'You! Sparrow!' Will commanded.

'Aye?' came the lazy, slurring drawl from the straw-littered floor.

'You are familiar with that ship, the _Black Pearl_?'

Sparrow repositioned his shoulders. 'I've 'eard of it.'

'Where does it make berth?'

'Where does it make berth?' Sparrow repeated incredulously, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. 'Have you not heard the stories?' Neither Will's nor Emily's expressions changing, Sparrow continued, '_Captain_ Barbossa and his crew of miscreants sail from the dreaded Isla du Muerta. It's an island that cannot be found, _except_-' again with the odd hand gestures, '-by those who already know where it is.'

Will figured Sparrow had gone a little crazy in his cell. 'The ship's real enough, therefore its anchorage must be a real place. Where is it?'

Jack lay back down and studied his nails, looking like he had naught but a care in the world. 'Why ask me?'

Will's eyes hit the floor. '…Because you're a pirate.'

'And you want to turn pirate yourself, is that it?'

Will leapt at the bars. 'Never!' Sparrow seemed uninterested now, so Will continued, reluctantly, '…They took Miss Swann.'

'Ah, so it is that you've found a girl!' Sparrow grinned, sitting up, obviously pleased with himself for finally getting the truth out of Will. 'I see. Well, if you're intending to brave all, hasten to her rescue and so win fair lady's heart, you'll have to do it alone, mate. I see no profit in it for me.'

'I can get you out of here,' Will offered.

'How's that? The key's run off.'

'We helped build these cells. These are half-pin barrel hinges.' Will suddenly grabbed a wooden bench and placed two of its legs through the bars of Sparrow's cell in the fashion of a lever. 'With the right leverage, and the proper application of strength, the door will lift free.'

Emily noticed that Sparrow suddenly seemed to be intensely interested in the conversation. 'What's your name?' he asked, curiously.

'Will Turner,' replied Will, just as curious.

'That would be short for William, I imagine? Good, strong name. No doubt named for your father, eh?'

'…Yes.'

'Uh-huh.' Sparrow pondered something for a moment, then seemed to come to a decision. Standing up, he said, 'Well, Mr Turner, I've changed me mind. If you spring me from this cell, I swear on pain of death, I shall take you to the _Black Pearl_ and your bonny lass. Do we have an accord?' Sparrow held his right hand out to Will through the bars.

Will shook it. 'Agreed.'

Sparrow turned to Emily, who had been standing in the corner with her arms firmly folded across her chest for the entire conversation. 'And you, luv?'

'What about me?' Emily still had not forgotten the wound on her arm.

'Do we have an accord?'

Emily frowned at him, then looked at Will. He nodded, so Emily sighed, and half-heartedly took Sparrow's hand and shook it, muttering, 'Agreed.'

'Agreed,' Sparrow smiled. 'Get me out!'

Will and Emily pulled as hard as they could on the bench and, sure enough, the door of the cell lifted off its hinges immediately. It crashed to the floor and Sparrow pranced out.

'Hurry – someone will have heard that,' Will warned.

'Not without my effects!' the pirate slurred, grabbing his effects from the wall and running out the door, Will and Emily on his heels.

* * *

Tramping through muddy water, Jack Sparrow, Will Turner and Emily Sharpe stopped under a bridge to observe the pier where the navy ship the_ Interceptor _was docked. Jack eyed it almost lovingly, and Will voiced his worry.

'We're going to steal a ship. …That ship?'

'_Commandeer_,' Jack corrected him. 'We're going to commandeer _that_ ship – nautical term,' he pointed out another ship anchored further out in the bay – the _Dauntless_. Turning to Will and Emily, Jack continued, 'One question about your business, children, or there's no use going – this girl; how far are you willing to go to save her?'

'I'd die for her,' Will stated defiantly, and Emily nodded in agreement.

'Oh, good. No worries then.' Jack turned back around to observe the port.

'But how are we supposed to get _on_ the ship?' Emily asked, utterly confused by Jack's plan.

'Ah, that's the beauty of it, luv,' Jack smiled, spinning around again to face Emily. 'Now, if you'll follow me…'

They snuck out from under the bridge in Jack's wake and along the edge of the beach, all the while using foliage as cover. 'Just follow me, mates,' Jack repeated, and, when he was sure nobody was watching, he darted out from the bushes and hid underneath an upturned rowboat. Will and Emily had to act quickly to copy Jack and avoid being seen at the same time, but managed it nonetheless.

Hiding under the boat was an extremely uncomfortable experience, and also exceedingly difficult whilst wearing a dress, as proved by Emily's efforts to crouch down but not tread on her dress either. Jack quickly shushed her and the trio sat in silence, listening to the footsteps of the guards outside.

'Okay,' Jack whispered. 'When I give the command, we stand up and run into the water as quickly as your skinny little legs will carry you, savvy?'

'What?' Emily asked, bewildered. 'Jack, we'll drown!'

Jack simply grinned, then returned to listening to the guards' footsteps. After a moment's silence, Jack said, '…Now!' and they were off.

Running with a rowboat on your back proved to be no more fun than hiding beneath one. It was awkward and clumsy, and Emily was sure someone would spot them. Nevertheless, they made it to the water and within minutes they were walking along the bottom of the ocean towards the _Dauntless_, the rowboat over their heads trapping an air bubble for them to breathe in. Emily was glad for the relative weight of her dress; combined with the water, it kept itself down.

'This is either madness… or brilliance,' Will mused. True, neither Emily nor Will could quite believe that Jack's plan was actually working.

'It's funny how often those two traits coincide,' Jack replied from the front, and kept walking.

Will suddenly felt his foot land in something. He abruptly looked down and found that his foot had become trapped in a lobster cage. As he tried to shake it off, Emily, who was behind him, tried to grab the rope connected to it and pull it away. Neither managed to remove it, but they soon found the cage to be useful.

When Jack, Will and Emily finally arrived at the Dauntless, they let the rowboat float away and surfaced behind the ship. Tossing the lobster cage up onto it, the three of them used the cage's rope to scale the ship and arrive onto the upper deck, where Jack, Will and Emily drew their swords in unison and proceeded towards the lower deck and the unsuspecting crew.

'Everyone, stay calm, we are taking over the ship!' Jack announced.

Will proved he knew almost nothing about pirates. 'Aye! Avast!'

The crew burst out laughing. Jack rolled his eyes and glared at Will, while Emily scrunched hers shut. She could feel Will burning with embarrassment.

When the laughter died down, the Captain stepped forward and told Jack, 'This ship cannot be crewed by two men and a _girl_,' he sneered at Emily on the last word. 'You'll never make it out of the bay!'

'Son,' Jack grinned, cocking his gun in the Captain's face, 'I'm Captain Jack Sparrow. Savvy?'


End file.
